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May 10, 2007

A Little More on Schilling's Bonds Apology

Reporters like athletes who talk. It would be hypocritical to say we wanted a gag order on Schilling, because his responses are thoughtful and enlightening, and cause for great fodder.

"Reporters like athletes who talk." .. Which, in my opinion, is a big reason why some members of the Boston media don't give (and will never give) Manny Ramirez a fair shake.

Cafardo:

[Y]ou're not going to see a groundswell of athletes starting blogs like Schilling's. I jokingly asked Tim Wakefield yesterday when we'd see his blog, and he said, "You'll never see that from me." Sure, this is the 21st century and communication has come a long way. Mainstream media doesn't have to be the only way to get the message across. Fans enjoy hearing things directly from the athlete. There's no spin. Of course, there's no objectivity, either.

Riiiiiiight, and the Boston sports media, and mainstream sports journalism in general, is just overflowing with objectivity. You could drown in it.

A player's blog is simply another outlet from which to get information. It could be your only source of news -- you could also decide to follow the Red Sox by reading nothing but the CHB (not recommended for most fans; please consult your doctor before beginning an all-CHB diet) -- but it doesn't have to be.

Schilling's apology/post was 484 words. No media outlet -- including Cafardo's employer, the Globe -- would have given Schilling that much space to explain himself. (Cafardo quoted 88 words from it.)

This way, Schilling can say exactly what he wants in as many words as he feels he needs to say it (and it was about as far away from the oft-heard "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" as you could get). And Schilling has no fear that a journalist will quote him inaccurately or distort his words so they end up meaning the opposite of what he said -- as some did with his recent comments about Clemens and the Red Sox.